For each bottle sold of the more expensive Chardonnay, riesling, or Chenin we had sold two bottles of the less expensive Vinho Verde or Sauvignon Blanc and one and a half bottles of the comparably priced Prosecco. I have to admit to being a little surprised. Given the national sentiment towards Chardonnay I would have thought the DMZ, which is quite a nice example of Chardonnay, particularly for the summer, would have sold more. In fact I expected it to be the top seller, after the Casal Garcia, i mean you can't ignore the effects of a crisp sip of Casal Garcia afar coming into the store on a 90 degree day, especially at its sub $10 price.

And then there was the Prosecco, which was a bit on the high side of this selection, but it all was what it was, and then I went back to the pouring bar to get my stuff and it struck me, all three of the top sellers were sitting right there, in the ice, well displayed, fresh and glistening! Could that display have played a subliminal part in people's choice that day? I would have to replicate the event to be sure but I have to say that in all likelihood it did. The Casal Garcia sold on price but the Sauvignon Blanc and the Prosecco were no cheaper than the rest of the wines, and to be honest I probably gave the sauvignon Blanc the least praise and yet there it was.

So what's the lesson here? There might be a few but the first is absolutely that your customers most likely are trusting their palates. I think and relayed the thought that both the DMZ and Pine Ridge are great values and yet my audience this day didn't really bite on that messaging. what they did bite on was seeing the bottles nicely displayed. Enticingly displayed given the weather. So when you're out in the trenches selling, feel free to regale your customers with your stories and opinions but don't be surprised if they just buy the bottle that is most attractive or attractively displayed. Don't take it personally, it's just how our brain is wired, but do try and take advantage of it! We actually sold one bottle more of the Leitz riesling than either the Chardonnay for the Chenin. Who'd of thunk?

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Comments

Your reported data on sales does not match the written descriptions. And in my mind, the vino verde is the only "less expensive wine." $14-$16 is the same tier, so I see as a conclusion that price did not matter, and people bought pretty evenly across the board.

This may be fodder for some serious research, and may even be directionally correct, but in truth the sample size is much too small from which to draw any meaninful conclusions. These anecdotes often serve only as an attempt to add a measure of validity to our own predispositions.

I agree that the sample side is too small to draw any conclusions, and what I have presented is supposition pending the duplication of statistically significant results but still, twice as much Sauvignon Blanc sold as Chardonnay, and Chardonnay and Riesling selling equally? That was not what I expected.

Well of course we are talking about people voting with their wallets, which raises another complication. I go into wine stores for tasting all the time, which amounts to hundreds of times per year. I do not go to buy the wines they are offering for tasting, but when I do it's typically only one or two bottles and in those cases the wine lines up with what I am planning on doing that weekend, with food for dinner or to augment what I am already planning on pouring. If I already have chardonnay in stock I may pick up something altogether different for a contrast or for the few friends who do not want a chard to drink. So your sample, already small, does not get to the heart of why people are buying what they buy, mostly because we need about a hundred buyers in total (for better stats) and also because we need to poll them after they bought.